Our world

S. Erasmus, the Island that moves

The Cultural Association, “Il Lato Azzurro” (affiliated ARCI) was formed to create spaces and moments of confrontation and meeting for the experimentation of alternative methods for interpersonal and social relations.

The Cultural Center for holidays at S.Erasmus

Since 1997 it has been operating actively in the Venetian lagoon territory, offering within the cultural center various courses and cultural activities for adults, youth and children, above all aimed at improving relating, through activities facilitating group dynamics (educating towards peace and towards developing creativity.

Theatre at the island
In collaboration with the Public Administration and the Company Stalker Theatre of Torin and “Questa Nave” of Venice Marghera, “Il Lato Azzurro” has organized for two consecutive years ‘Theatre at the Island’ a festival of contemporary theatre in the Northern lagoon of Venice, running alongside theatre workshops for youth and adults. The same festival is still proposed by the Company Pantakin of Venice.

The other Politics
Meetings and workshops have been organized about issues of work, on themes about the environment, of institutions and culture of difference (seminars with Piero Petenò, Gian Maria Zuppi, Lidia Menapace, Paolo Cacciari, Guido Bodrato) and hosted many seminars and stages of various organizations, which led to the meeting of Esodo and Servitium, that produce The Exercise Books of S. Erasmus (related to Giovanni Vian, Massimo Cacciari, Raniero La Valle, Aldo Bodrato, Paolo Cacciari, Goffredo Fofi), a training seminar organized by the committee for civil rights of the prostitutes of Pordenone for the working insertion of fair educators, seminars about communal life by Marina Bianchi and many other diverse training encounters about non-violence, bio-dance, yoga…
In September 2004 “Il Lato Azzurro” hosted a cultural exchange ‘You, Us’ organized by the Municipality of Venice, Peace Center. For a week they co-habited, played, created relationships between the youth of Israel, Palestine, Spain and Italy. A game of real peace constructed from the base.

School in action
For schools and groups, the cultural center is able to propose practical workshops about environmental education (in collaboration with the operative Oikos of Metre), peace education, inter/multicultural education, and together with the neighboring island Lazaretto Nuovo offers the possibility to participate in seminars on lagoon archeology of Archeoclub Venice.

Sustainable development, community services
Within the field of sustainable development the Center organized in October 1999 a conference on the prospects for S.Erasmus with active participation from local associations and public administration. In this way, collaborate actively with other local associations. Together with friends of ALKSE (Association of Lagoon Kayak of S. Erasmus) and the cultural association, the island and the city, have collaborated on many initiatives engaged with valuing the territory, culminating in the birth of the monthly newspaper Terremerse, that use the centre “Il Lato Azzurro” as it’s operating base.
Already from the opening of the center, it has offered amongst other things, a painting course and activities for children of the island that ends with an exhibition and lively party, where a scale model is shown, produced by the children themselves, that represents the ‘ideal’ island.
The theme of local development was deepened in an international cultural exchange with the Escuela de Animaciónn y Educación Juvenil di Madrid (between 1999 and 2000) which participated together with the organizers of “Il Lato Azzurro”, officials from the Venice Municipality and other Venetian organizations.
Together with the International Civil Service “Il Lato Azzurro” also participated in the achievement of some voluntary camps (in collaboration with the Coordinator of the recovery of the entrenched camps of Mestre), hosted and collaborating with voluntary work of many youth of various nationalities for the recovery of the lagoon forts.

Gay friendly
In collaboration with Arcigay Dedalo of Venice, propose an alternative gay week under the symbol of the icon of sacred art of Sebastian at the end of August.

Artist friendly
The center has hosted various painting exhibitions, including a show of young artists (coordinated by the Arts Academy of Venice in collaboration with other academic institutions of various European countries) for a Land Art project at S. Erasmus.
Amongst other things there are many productions from artist friends, jugglers, singers, actors, dancers and musicians…

Inter-culture and Morocco
From September 2004 until June 2004 we hosted a photographic exhibition ”Their earth is red”, with texts from the book about the voyage of Emmanuele Maspoti in Marocco across the experience of migrant Moroccans in Italy and Spain, a collection of these experiences was published by Ananke in May 2004.
There are plans to deepen the theme of inter-culture and migration, with active collaboration with the association of Murano, muraNO, workshop of informAction in the world; the activation of service programs and exchanges with immigrants, responsible tourism, as well as the idea to run intensive residence courses in Italian as a second language in collaboration with existing services in Venice.

“Nomads”
The association ‘Il Lato Azzuro’, interested in every ‘other’ cultural form that can contribute in enlarging cultural horizons, has hosted for the refusal of collective identity and constant research, across the meeting of the living, of vital and creative dimensions. Nomads and immigrants of culture, starting from an island that we want to always be in movement, we remain interested and open to every experience that can contribute to the construction of ‘another possible world’, fantastical and positive. With this spirit we await our guests, to offer them a different place to have a holiday and be together to share every dream possible.